Steam pasteurizing articles



Sept. 22, 1970 s. M. HIBBARD STEAM PASTEURIZING ARTICLES Original FiledApril 12 1966 ENTR ANC E ECCENTRKI DRWE MECHANISM 0 RM J, 03 M mw k w dmW 4 W United States Patent 3,529,977 STEAM PASTEURIZING ARTICLESSchuyler M. Hibbard, Penn Yan, N.Y., assignor to LOII- mann FoodsCorporation, Gorham, N.Y., a corporation of New York Originalapplication Apr. 12, 1966, Ser. No. 542,010, now Patent No. 3,457,851,dated July 29, 1969. Divided and this application Mar. 5, 1969, Ser. No.804,507

- Int. Cl. A2311 3/02 US. Cl. 599-216 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A method of pasteurizing articles with steam involving thetransportation of the articles through an open ended steam chamber whichis sealed at its open end by the formation of an unrestrained curtain orsheet of liquid at the open end.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a division ofallowed application Ser. No. 542,010, filed Apr. 12, 1966, for treatmentapparatus, now Pat. No. 3,457,851, issued July 29, 1969. The presentapplication is filed in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 121, as a result of arequirement for restriction issued in the parent application, andincorporates essential material by reference to the allowed parentapplication in accordance with the notice published in 34 RR. 883 (Ian.18, 1969).

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the treatmentof articles, particularly the treatment of articles with a fluid mediumsuch as steam for pasteurization. In such treatment, articles to betreated, such as canned goods, are passed through a treatment zone inwhich they are subject to the action of a pasteurizing fluid, such assteam or hot water. A disadvantage of most prior art devices is thatthey are subject to considerable heat loss out of the ends of thetreatment chamber, which are normally left open to permit the continuouspassage of articles through the chamber. Other prior art devices notinvolving open ended chambers include elaborate sealing arrangementswhich are complicated, cumbersome, and expensive to build.

An object of the invention accordingly is to provide for the improvedpasteurization of articles subject to relatively little heat loss andnot involving complicated heat sealing arrangements.

This and other objects of the present invention are attained byproviding an open ended chamber into which steam is admitted forpasteurization, passing the articles for pasteurization into the chamberthrough an open chamber end, and forming an unrestrained curtain orsheet of liquid at the open chamber end so as to form an effective sealfor the chamber. The chamber is typically open at entrance and exit endsthereof, and the articles are continuously transported into and out ofthe chamber, in which case unrestrained curtains or sheets of liquid areformed at both entrance and exit ends of the chamber so as to formeffective seals for the chamber. Further, steam may be supplied only toone portion of the chamber, and coolant to another chamber portion. Insuch a case an unrestrained curtain or sheet of liquid may be formedwithin the chamber so as to separate these two chamber portions.

The allowed parent application referenced above dis- 3,529,977 PatentedSept. 22, 1970 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspectiveview of a representative treatment apparatus in accordance with theinvention, shown in diagrammatic form.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1,partly broken away and to an enlarged scale, showing some of the detailsof the treatment apparatus.

In FIG. 2, a trough receives water from a perforated pipe 48b. Watersupplied to the pipe 48b passes through the perforations in the pipe andfills the trough so as to overflow the trough in a uniform unrestrainedcurtain or sheet of water. The curtain of water so provided elfectivelyseals the end of the chamber 40.

What is claimed is:

I. The method of pasteurizing articles by steam comprising:

(a) transporting the articles through an open-ended chamber into whichsteam is supplied for pasteurization, and

(b) forming an unrestrained sheet of liquid flowing across an open endof the chamber so as to form an effective seal for the chamber.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the chamber is open atentrance and exit ends thereof and wherein the articles are continuouslytransported into and out of the chamber, and in which unrestrainedsheets of liquid are formed at both entrance and exit ends of thechamber so as to form effective seals for the chamber.

3. The method as defined in claim I, wherein the chamber has twoportions, steam is supplied only to one portion of the chamber, and acoolant is supplied to the other portion of the chamber, and includingthe further step of forming anunrestrained sheet of liquid flowingacross the chamber so as to separate said two portions of said chamber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,282,187 5/1942 Herold et a1.99-214 2,660,512 11/1953 Webster.

2,719,478 10/1955 Van Der Winden 99-360 2,806,423 9/ 1957 Van Der Winden99-362 X 2,968,232 1/ 1961 Carvallo 99-360 3,211,275 10/1965 Van DerWinden 99-214 X 3,377,173 4/1968 Van Der Winden 99-214 3,445,179 5/1969Jansen 99-360 3,101,995 8/1963 Beauvis 99-216 X FOREIGN PATENTS 431,8447/ 1935 Great Britain.

NORMAN YUDKOFF, Primary Examiner F. E. DRUMMOND, Assistant Examiner US.Cl. X.R.

